


Not Afraid

by fezwearingjellybananas



Series: AU Snippets [3]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghostbusters, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-13
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-06-10 00:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15279582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fezwearingjellybananas/pseuds/fezwearingjellybananas
Summary: Iris West thought she left ghost hunting behind a long time ago. Then Jesse Wells walks into her office





	Not Afraid

Iris West was very good at her job. As an investigative reporter, half her job relied on tip offs. She’d had one just last week which ended in her discovering who was organising the drag races in Central City.

So she hadn’t said no when someone had asked for her at the front desk of Picture News.

Maybe she should have.

“You’re Iris West?”

“I am,” Iris said. “Can I help you?”

“I’m Jesse. I think there’s a ghost stalking my uncle?”

“Excuse me?”

“You’re the Iris West from the “Impossible of Central” blog, right?”

“That was a long time ago,” Iris admitted. “We were just kids. How did you even find it?”

“I typed ‘ghost sightings Central City’ into Google and it was the first result.”

“Of course it was. I can’t help you, I’m sorry.”

“Oh. Well, thank you anyway.”

Jesse looked down and scuffed her feet as she went to leave, and that’s when Iris made her second mistake.

“I might know someone who can,” Iris said. Jesse turned back round. “I can’t make any promises, but I finish at five, I can meet you in Jitters at half past six?”

“Thank you.” Jesse beamed.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?” Linda asked.

“He’s still my best friend,” Iris said. “It’s not like I stopped believing in ghosts and stopped talking to him. I just couldn’t keep chasing ghosts if I wanted to be taken seriously as a journalist.”

“And yet here you are, chasing ghosts again.”

“I’m just here to see if Barry’s interested,” Iris said. “That’s all. See you tomorrow, Linda.”

“Be careful,” Linda said. She waited for Iris to walk into the university before leaving.

“I’m here to see Barry Allen?” Iris asked the receptionist. She accepted the visitor’s badge and signed her name, then walked downstairs.

It wasn’t the first time she’d visited Barry at work, but they usually avoided the topic of ghosts.

There was a faint smell of burning when Iris knocked.

“Iris, hi,” Barry said, opening the door just enough to stick his head out. “What are you doing here?”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Yeah, course, anything for you. Let’s go upstairs.”

“What’s going on?”

“What? Nothing, I just fancy coffee, do you want coffee, let’s go and get coffee.”

“Barry. Why are you wet?”

Barry sighed and opened the door fully. He shared his lab with his friend, Cisco Ramon, so Iris wasn’t sure who had set it on fire, but she wouldn’t be surprised by either of them, or if they’d done it together. Either way, a bench was smouldering, and the two of them were dripping

“It wasn’t even a big fire,” Cisco said. “It was just some embers and a lot of smoke.”

“Hi, Iris,” Wally said.

“What did you do?” Iris asked. “Why is Wally here?”

“I had an idea for my engine design and wanted Cisco’s advice.”

“The advice is don’t try it,” Cisco said. “You need more coolant.”

“Right,” Iris said.

“What did you need to talk about?” Barry asked.

“You remember our blog?”

“Yeah? We haven’t updated it for years though, you always were the better writer.”

“A girl came to see me today about it.”

“We can delete it if you want,” Barry said.

“It’s been a long time since any of us went ghost hunting,” Wally said.

“That’s what I need to talk to you about,” Iris said. “She said she thinks there’s a ghost stalking her uncle. I said I’d talk to someone who might be able to help her.”

“It’s been a long time, Iris,” Barry said.

“It’s just talking,” Iris said. “You don’t have to say yes.”

“I’ll come,” Wally said. “Cisco, you want to come ghost hunting?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll talk to her,” Barry said. “We should probably find some dry clothes first.”

* * *

Jesse was waiting outside Jitters when they got there.

“Hi,” Iris said. “Jesse, this is Barry, Cisco, and my brother, Wally. This is Jesse.”

“Nice to meet you,” Barry said. He held the door open and the five of them went inside. “Iris said you have some questions about ghosts.”

“My aunt and uncle work at S.T.A.R. Labs, I’m spending the summer with them and I usually help out around the labs. Things keep falling off of shelves in whatever room my uncle’s in, or moving.”

“Is this just in S.T.A.R. Labs?”

“No, it’s at his home as well.”

“And it’s not just you noticing this?” Iris asked.

“No, my aunt and uncle both have, and Caitlin and Hartley, they work at S.T.A.R. Labs too.”

“Could be a poltergeist,” Cisco said. “Could be people forgetting where they put things and draughty rooms.”

“I’m not making it up,” Jesse said.

“No one’s saying that.”

“I saw a hand, and there was this voice. I couldn’t hear what it was saying, but I could hear it. I’m not... I’m not...”

“Hallucinating?” Iris asked.

“There’s this feeling. It’s hard to explain. It’s cold, and like you’re being watched.”

“That sounds familiar,” Wally said, looking at Barry.

“Why don’t we take a look?” Barry asked. “Jesse?”

“You believe me?”

“I believe you believe yourself. There’s no harm in looking, just to see if there’s anything to point in the direction of a cause.”

“Thank you,” Jesse said.

* * *

“This place is so cool,” Cisco whispered. “Remind me why I stayed in the university basement?”

“What’s wrong with our lab?” Barry asked.

“There’s a hole in the bench.”

“There was a tiny bit of thermite left over, what was I supposed to do, not set fire to it?”

“Sounds pretty easy to me,” Iris said. “Why is it, whenever I go to your lab, something is either on or has recently been on fire?”

“No comment,” Cisco said. “Blame Barry, he’s a chemist.”

“Hey! At least half are your fault.”

“We can probably blame a few on Wally.”

“How don’t you get lost in here?” Wally asked, changing the subject.

“You get used to it quickly,” Jesse said. “Uncle Harrison should be in his office.”

“Wait, Harrison as in-”

Wally cut himself off as Jesse’s uncle stood and smiled at her. Doctor Harrison Wells, co-founder of S.T.A.R. Labs. Barry and Wally had read everything he’d ever written, Iris had picked up a lot.

“Uncle Harrison, are you busy?”

“It can wait,” he said. “Do you need something, Jesse?”

“It’s about the ghost.”

“I see. And these are ghost experts?”

“It’s a hobby,” Cisco said.

“Doctor Ramon. I read your thesis for your PhD, quite brilliant.”

“Thank you.”

“I wasn’t aware mechanical engineering had anything to do with ghost hunting.”

“I make the toys. These are my friends, Doctor Bartholomew Allen, Doctor Iris West, and Wallace West, he’s working on it.”

“I’d like to ask you some questions about this ghost while Barry, Cisco, and Wally do some tests, if you don’t mind,” Iris asked.

“Of course,” Doctor Wells said.

“When did you start noticing unusual events?”

“Jesse pointed out most of them a few weeks ago, but I suppose it’s been going on for a while.”

“Have you ever seen or heard anything you can’t explain?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Do you believe in ghosts?”

“I think as a scientist I should be open to new ides, but I can’t say I’ve given them much thought.”

“Hey, Barry?” Cisco asked. “You know our untested, theoretical PKE meter?”

“Yeah, what about it?”

The small box Cisco was holding had flashing lights, and the antenna was spinning rapidly. Barry frowned and went to look over Cisco’s shoulder.

“It’s never done that.”

“What is that thing?” Jesse asked.

“It detects psycho-kinetic energy,” Wally said. “You know, like ghosts. At least in theory it does.” He pulled out a video camera as the meter span faster. Iris’ ears popped and she rubbed one. “Yours too?”

“Some kind of pressure change,” Iris said. “Barry?”

“There, see?” Jesse asked. The temperature in the room dropped. “It feels like something’s watching.”

Something red flashed in front of them, and Iris grabbed Barry’s hand. Cisco’s meter started smoking. Wally kept a tight hold on the camera.

The red looked a little like smoke now, with green sparks at the edges. A pale hand reached out.

“Goodness,” Doctor Wells said.

Slime covered the six of them, and the ghost shot through the door and down the corridor. They opened the door to follow it, but it had gone.

“See?” Jesse asked.

“Yeah,” Barry murmured. “I saw him.”

* * *

Barry had collected samples of the slime, and Iris had gone home to try and wash it off. She’d gone into work the next day to write an article on the upcoming election for mayor, but all she could think about was the ghost.

“How was last night?” Linda asked.

“Great,” Iris said. “We saw a ghost.”

“Iris.” Linda sighed, and Iris nodded. “You’re being serious?”

“Just a hand. And we got covered in slime, Barry’s running tests.”

“You actually saw a ghost?”

“We saw something, Cisco has a video, I’ll show you later.”

“You’re going back, aren’t you?”

“Jesse said the ghost seems to have gone for now, but if it comes back then Cisco thinks he has a way to trap it.”

“You’re going to catch a ghost.”

“We’re going to catch a ghost.”

**Author's Note:**

> This has been in my drafts for so long and I have ideas but they won't string themselves together so:  
> \- Eddie is the receptionist. He doesn't know what Iris, Barry, Cisco, and Wally are talking about 98% of the time, but he is very supportive, and he does enjoy solving puzzles  
> \- Linda pops in throughout and writes the article at the end  
> \- Eobard is the ghost, he tried to possess Barry when Barry was eleven, but failed, now he's going after Doctor Wells. He's not dissimilar to Vigo in Ghostbusters 2  
> \- Which possibly means they still save the day with dancing slime and music. Maybe.  
> \- Speaking of Doctor Wells, he's the oldest triplet. Second is Harry, third is HR. Their parents were not good with names  
> \- Eddie finds out he's distantly related to Eobard and is not happy about it  
> \- Cynthia is probably a police officer who arrests them, but later shows up asking for their help with a ghost problem, Cisco is immediately smitten  
> \- Professor Stein supervises Barry and Cisco at the university and, while he can't help them with ghost chasing, he does point them in the direction of their own lab space  
> \- Nora, Francine, and Henry are all alive. Francine and Joe are possibly divorced, but everyone is very alive  
> \- Cisco's degree is mechanical engineering/physics, Barry's is organic chemistry, Iris' is psychology, Wally is also engineering, he's in the final stages of finishing his PhD  
> \- Dante has no idea what is happening but is 100% ready to deck a ghost for Cisco  
> Iron thermite is used to weld railway tracks. My chemistry teacher at school showed us its reaction.  
> The original post is [here](http://fezwearingjellybananas.tumblr.com/post/164671348062/ghostbusters-au-when-barry-allen-was-eleven-years)


End file.
